Herbert W Ockerman; Lopa Basu

Historical Review

Austin J In Vitro Fertili. 2014;1(1): 5.

Chronological Milestones in American Meat and Poultry Inspection

Herbert W Ockerman* and Lopa Basu

The Ohio University (OSU), USA

*Corresponding author: Herbert W Ockerman, The Ohio University (OSU), USA

Received: September 11, 2014; Accepted: October 24, 2014; Published: October 30, 2014

Introduction

Herbert W Ockerman has been connected to the food industry since the 6th grade (WW2). He was working in the local supermarket when the butcher was drafted; so at this age he became the butcher. Also, on the farm, he participated in harvesting animals and curing meat tissue. When OSU cooperated with the USDA, he taught biochemistry of muscle tissue and statistics to approximately 2,000 lay and veterinary inspectors. He has also been involved in meat research and teaching for 52 years at OSU. Consequently, he has seen most of these meat and poultry inspections developed and being implemented.

History of Meat and Poultry Inspection

1890 - the meat industry requested Congress to enact a law so they could export meat exported meat.
1891 – May 12: USDA initiated a law for ante-mortem cattle inspection for export
1891 - U.S. Federal Inspection was performed on:

4,687,000 cattle
21,999,000 hogs, and
5,741,000 sheep and lambs

Which amounted to:

681,220,000 pounds of pork
498,344,000 pounds of lard, and
395,540,000 pounds of beef

1897 - Effective date of the mandatory ante-mortem inspection
1904 - U.S. National Pure Food Law was passed:

Provided standards of purity, strength, and character of food
Prohibited interstate trade in adulterated or misbranded products

1904 - Upton Sinclair published a sociological novel titled the “The Jungle”

Alleged unsanitary conditions in Chicago meat plants
Only a few pages were related to the meat industry
It also alleged poor economic and social aspects of the lives of the immigrant workers, many of whom were recent Polish immigrants
This book made a deep impression on the American public
This book also furnished most of the emotion behind the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act

1905 - A special grand jury was called to investigate the evidence of anti-trust laws and violations by U.S. meat packing companies and their executives. Many felt that the U. S. meat packing companies were guilty, even though charges were dismissed because of a technicality
1906 - A bill in Congress provided for Federal Meat Inspection:

It covered domestic (interstate) and foreign trade
It was attached as an amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill as a rider
The bill indicated that the federal government should pay for inspection
The basic meat inspection law was passed
The 1906 Meat Inspection Act was passed and it laid the foundation for meat inspections for many years

However, the inspection meat regulation was:

Limited by lack of authority and funds for personnel
Primarily restricted to ante-mortem examination with only limited post-mortem scrutiny

Consequently, the bill did not cover the product in subsequent operations and transport:

Plant conditions and operating procedures were also outside the jurisdiction of the 1906 Inspection Act
About the only weapon that the Meat Inspection Service had was to threaten withdrawal of inspection from a plant

The 1906 original law permitted only certain preservatives:

Salt
Sugar
Wood smoke
Vinegar
Pure spice
Saltpeter

But over time the expanded role of meat inspection included:

Specified proper materials for floors, walls, and benches
Submission of building and remodeling plans prior to construction

1907- First full year of Federal Inspection under the new law:

702 establishments in 196 cities were under inspection
The American Meat Packers Association, the packers’ first real trade association and now known as the American Meat Institute, was formed

Law provided consumers:

Health protection
Pocketbook savings
Confidence in the “wholesomeness and truthfulness” of labeling

Meat Industry:

public confidence in a wholesome meat supply as a better product

Livestock producers:

steady market for their animals

Seven procedures were adopted to ensure food safety:

Sanitation of establishment
Inspection of animals before slaughter
Inspection of carcasses and internal organs after slaughter
Inspection of meat processing and preparation of meat food products and collection of samples of products for laboratory analysis
Destruction of material condemned for food purposes
Supervision application of the stamp or label indicating federal approval
Maintenance of chemical, bacteriological, pathological and zoological laboratories

Trichinosis problem:

Europe meat industry - microscopic examination of pork as a control measure
U.S. in 1907 deemed this ineffective and thought a safer and effective substitute was cooking, refrigeration, curing, etc. which is effective in destroying Trichina. Educating the public that pork must be thoroughly cooked before eating was an added safety factor. This created a decline in trichinosis among hogs and was also aided by the adoption of the “Cooked Garbage Feeding Laws”.

Federal Inspection soon was allowed to supervise:

Every production procedure
All materials and additives used
Expected that every processed meat must contain an inspection and information label
Expected that every label must pass accuracy tests
Condemned carcasses or parts of carcass were also kept under meat inspection control

1909 – Change from old brick and wood-mill type buildings to concrete and steel structures

Impervious walls and floors became an economic necessity – sanitation
Salaries of federal meat inspectors are paid by the government except for overtime service in which the government is reimbursed

1913 – Inspection limited the amount of cereal in inspected sausage and required that the cereal must be listed on the label

Inspection restricted the amount of water for uncooked sausage to the 3% level
The industry fought back
U.S. supreme court upheld the secretary of agriculture’s decision

1941 - A listing of ingredients on the label became mandatory
1946 - Allowed inspection of exotic and game animals
1950s - Fiftieth Anniversary of US Meat Inspection:

Cost approximately fifteen cents per animal
Nine cents per person per year for each U.S. consumer
Only a tiny fraction of a cent per pound for meat consumed
Eighty percent of the nation’s commercial meat supply went through the Federal Inspection System

1956:

1154 meat-processing plants were under Federal Meat Inspection
More than one hundred million meat animals were slaughtered annually

From the 1950’s on, the inspection program recognized that there was an increasing need for a multi-disciplinary work force. Therefore, people were added in increasing numbers in the disciplines of:

Statistics
Analytical chemistry
Toxicology
Meat science and food technology
Medical specialists in public health issues were added in the next decade

In 1955, diseases were reduced with the aid of Meat Inspection Program:

Instances of tuberculosis in farm herds had been reduced to 0.011%
Also reduced was Vascular exanthema brucellosis
Actinomycosis
Anthrax
Hog cholera, and
Texas fever

Regular collection of detailed statistics on the inspection program and/or processing of meat and meat food products began. This gave the general public and processors quantitative facts about operation of U.S Federal Meat Inspected plants and the general health level of animals

1970’s - Issuance of criteria for determining “equal to” for the state programs was established

The federal government absorbed those state’s inspection programs choosing NOT to continue operating
The federal government reimburses up to 50 % of the cost of the states that decided to continue to operate a state inspection program
Approximately 20 states do NOT operate their own inspection program and the federal government has taken on this reasonability in these states
Meat and poultry products prepared in state-inspected plants still COULDNOT be sold in another state

1970 - Under-processed roast beef caused an illnesses outbreak and HACCP (Hazard Analised Critical Control Points) was initiated to try to solve this problem

HACCP was endorsed by both industry and food regulators
It is the current system used for U.S. meat inspection
Mandatory for all plants, whether under federal or state inspection

1980’s – The next step

Introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM)

An inspection method in which all people in the meat plant were involved
This was a voluntary program
A stepping-stone into the current system of HACCP

TQM relied more heavily on a company’s quality control system
Approximately 1,000 plants developed and implemented TQM covering all phases of their operations
Over 3,000 plants had such systems covering parts of their operations

Seven-core principles of HACCP were adopted:

Conduct a hazard analysis
Identify critical control points
Establish critical limits
Establish control process monitoring
Establish corrective action if critical limits are exceeded
Keep record of the HAACP system
Verify the system

Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) - accreditation of its laboratories to the (International Organization for Standardization) ISO standards

FSIS’s authority to close a plant due to failure of the Salmonella test was struck down by the U.S. Court
FSIS still has the ability to use the test for closer scrutiny

HACCP - increasing emphasis was placed on plant data and other records about a plant performance

These records can be a basis for sanctions - when needed including warning letters, temporary suspension of inspection, permanent withdrawal of inspection, or taking other civil or criminal actions
As of 2014, states of ND, WI (2 establishments are operating were operating state programs) , and IN have cooperative agreements

1999 - Approximately 7,500 FSIS inspection personnel carry out the inspection laws in approximately 6,500 plants that prepare 250,000 meat and poultry products bearing different labels
Since September 11, 2001 increased emphasis has been focused on possible bio-terrorism via the food supply
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FSIS and American Meat Science Association (AMSA) groups have collaboratively tried to prevent the appearance or emergence of BSE in the U.S., and thus far has been successful
FSIS and other agencies responsible for safety of the U.S. food supply, as well as producers and sellers, have formulated plans to minimize the risk of such occurrences of BSE
BSE

2003- First BSE case found in America in an adult cow imported from Canada
2005 - Second BSE. First endemic case in U.S.
2006 -Third BSE, genetic abnormality (H-type)

2006 - 100th Anniversary of US Meat Inspection
Latest concept for meat inspection is the HACCP program

Recommended by the National Academy of Science
Pillsbury used HACCP for manufacturing consumer foods
2012 - Forth BSE (L-type)
2012 - Ohio signed Cooperative Interstate Agreement and in 2014, and seven establishments approved and 6 more have applied

2012 - Import Inspection (department of FSIS):

4,226,587 pounds were rejected and refused entry into the U. S
They also inspected 3 billion pounds of meat and poultry that was imported from 29 countries
Of these 29 countries, the ones with greater than 1% of the import volume were in order of their percentage: Canada, Australia, Zealand, Mexico, Uruguay, Denmark, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, and Israel
Egg imports in 2012 were 13,118,996 pounds all coming from Canada
Meat Inspection responded to 25,978 requests for information

In 2012 FSIS inspection:

Inspected:

43,891,921 cattle
105,755,405 swine
5,420,077 other livestock
8,365,372,345 poultry and
3,400,000,000 egg products
250,000 different meat, poultry, and egg products
6,263 federally regulated establishments

Conducted 6.6 million food safety and food defense procedures
Performed 171,953 Humane Handling (HH) verification procedures
Two recalls for E. coli (O157H7)
Four recalls for Salmonella
87 recalls totaling ~ 2.1 million pounds; 8 recalls were class one (serious):

21 beef
23 poultry
14 pork
1 bovine
28 combination

FSIS Agency Strategic Goals (2014)

Ensure that food safety inspection aligns with existing and emerging risk
The Inspection service estimated employment is 9,230 staff years of which 8,526 are in the field
Maximize domestic and international compliance with food safety policies
Enhance public education and outreach to improve food handling practices
Strengthen collaboration among international and external stake holders to prevent food borne illness
Effective use of science to understand food borne illness and engineering trends
Implement effective policies to respond to existing and emerging risk
Empower employees with the training, resources and tools to enable success in protecting public health

The current estimated cost (2014) of U. S. Inspection System $ 1,171,471,000 and the current U. S. population is 318,622,000 which calculates to $3.68/person/ year

FSIS ORGANIZATION CHART

Ref: USDA - FSIS

Regulations are often revised. Two recent examples would include:

Listeria in cooked ready-to-eat products and
E. coli O57:H7 in raw ground beef
Both caused a rapid acceleration and development of new technologies to prevent and laboratory procedures to more rapidly and accurately identify these organisms

U.S. does not have a mandatory trace-back law

However, the possibility of conducting trace-back is increasing
Due, in large part to the increased concentration of livestock and flock producing operations
Poultry production is vertically

Strategic Plan for 2011-2016 - One Purpose: We are one team, with only one purpose. And that is to protect public health. FSIS employees take pride in the fact that their jobs help prevent food borne illness.

In spite of the occasional controversy between the processors and the inspection service, in general, most processors who look at the total picture give the U.S. Meat Inspection Service high marks for doing a good job and promoting the consumption of meat and aiding in the safety of consumers for the benefit of the farmers, processors and consumers.

Chronological Milestones in American Meat and Poultry Inspection

Introduction

History of Meat and Poultry Inspection

References